Reference: For Than Shwe, to hell with compromise, Bangkok Post, May 31, 2008

In un-characteristically tough language veteran Burma analyst Larry Jagan writes that we will be unable to reach any kind of agreement with the junta as long as Aung San Suu Kyi (ASSK) is the issue (For Than Shwe, to hell with compromise, Bangkok Post, May 31, 2008) and yet all along the international community has been making her the only issue. One would think that there would be some kind of a learning curve and that we would learn to make progress with the junta on a host of issues that are important to the Burmese people that do not have to involve ASSK. The Than Shwe acrimony toward ASSK is well known. It is not possible to take sides on this issue and expect to mediate in Burma. It is time for the international community to cut bait on the ASSK issue, to stop being righteous, and to define their real objectives in Burma. There is a lot that we can do for the Burmese people if we could only get around that un-scalable brick wall of our own making.

Cha-am Jamal
Thailand